Life Support
by Bekness
Summary: Paige comes home after the events of the dollhouse
1. Chapter 1

I pick up the phone on the 2nd ring, the person on the other end of the line starts talking before I can even say hello

"You need to come home, I've booked you on the next flight out, it leaves in 2 hours, I'll pick you up at the airport" is all the person says then hangs up. I get up from my desk, pack up the work I had been doing and start packing a bag. I pick up the duffle bag I had packed 3 weeks ago, leave a quick note for my roommate, telling her I'll be gone for a while and call for a taxi.

On my way to the airport I think back to the phone call, something must've happened for them to ring. I had tried to take this trip many times over the last 3 weeks and no matter what way I tried to get home be it plane, bus, train or even driving, I'd get to Philly, get a message then have to turn around and go back. So for the call to come through something must've changed, something big and I'm hoping it's a good something and not a bad one.

By the time I get to Philly my nerves are driving me crazy and my mind is running wild. I quickly make my way to baggage claim and see the person that called me waiting nervously looking at their phone

"Caleb!" he quickly looks up when I yell out, he runs over to me and I engulf him in a hug

"Fuck Paige is it good to see you" he smiles. I pull out my phone, staring at it nervously as I wait for it to turn on. "You shouldn't be getting a message, he doesn't know you're here" my head whips up

"What? Why? Caleb what's happened?"

"I'll tell you in the car, c'mon" I grab my bag and walk after him. Once in the car he tells me all that's happened. How the girls are safe, how Ali helped them, what they know about Charles, how Andrew might be involved, what the cops know and that Mona is alive and some girl named Sara Harvey. By the time we reach Rosewood he's filled me in on everything.

"Does Emily know I'm coming?" I ask as we cross the Welcome to Rosewood sign

"Probably not, none of the girls are talking to anyone, the only thing Hanna has let me do was hold her while she sleeps. I don't know what happened down there but all the girls came home, completely stripped their rooms and are sleeping in their guest rooms. They will only see each other but won't have us guys too far away. I called you because 1 you deserved to know, 2 we both know with your help we could find out things faster and 3 I talked to Pam the other day, apparently the only thing Emily took into her guest room was your letters, a picture of the two of you and sleeps clinging to the stuffed shark you got her. I think she really needs you Paige" he turns into Emily's street and pulls up at the front of her house

"Thanks man, I guess I'll probably be seeing you soon. We'll figure all this shit out soon hopefully, be safe man" I give him a quick hug, grab my bag and hop out of the car.

Now I've gotta admit, there's been a fair few times I've been nervous about knocking on this exact door but not knowing what Emily is like and what she's feeling is making me more than nervous. Knowing she is hurting is hurting me. I knock 3 times and wait patiently, I hold my breath when I hear footsteps and the door opens to reveal Pam Fields, who, when she sees me, breaks out into tears and lunges forward to hug me

"Thank god Paige. You're here"

"I am Mrs Fields, Caleb rang said she might need me" I hug her back and nod to Mr Fields over her shoulder. He comes over and pats me on the back and grabs my bag, putting it by the stairs

"You know its Wayne and Pam, Paige, especially after coming all this way for our baby" he gives me a quick hug after Pam lets me go

"I wouldn't be anywhere else, I tried to come back many times over the past month but.. um circumstances.. wouldn't allow me to" I say and look down, not knowing what they know about A. I look around, trying to see if Emily is downstairs, knowing Caleb wouldn't have dropped me off here if she wasn't

"She's up in the guest room, she made me move the window seat in there and has hardly left that spot, only to sleep, which she hardly does, or see the girls" Wayne says and hands me a bottle of water "I was about to take this up to her, she won't eat but this can't hurt" I give them a small smile and make my way upstairs, I walk past her bedroom, noticing the door shut and make my way to the guest room, giving it a quick know and making my way in after I hear a quiet "come in"

It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the surprisingly dark room, considering it's the middle of the day, then I see her, sitting on the window seat, just like Wayne said, her head leaning against the wall, eyes closed, seemingly in her own world. I walk further into the room

"Hey" my voice is quiet, not wanting to startle her. Her head snaps up, eyes wide which quickly fill with tears

"Paige" she whispers, before I know it she's in my arms, holding on to me tight, crying into my shoulder. I whisper comforting things to her, smelling in her scent and holding her just as tight. "you're here"

"I am baby, I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner, but I'm here now" I pick her up bridal style and carry her to the bed, laying down with her, her head on my chest just over my heart, my fingers running through her hair as she cries herself to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**EPOV**

I wake up from my dream of being in Paige's arms, dream Paige came home for me, and held me while I cried, whispering comfort to me. I shut my eyes tight, not wanting to wake up but slowly I come back to reality, I immediately tense when I feel my pillow moving up and down and an arm wrapped around my back. I quickly jump up, not sure where I am I quickly look around the room and breathe a sigh of relief when I realise I'm home

"Hey Em, you're safe now" I whip my head around and see Paige sitting up on my bed

"You're really here, I wasn't dreaming" I smile and throw myself at her

"Nope, I'm really here" I pull back and look into her eyes, my tears blurring my vision "I've missed you so much"

"I've missed you too" she places her hand on my cheek, wiping away my tears with her thumb "I'm so glad you're safe"

I lean into her hand, feeling the warmth and safety only her touch can give me. I lean forward, capturing her lips in a light but emotional kiss then pull her in for a hug, we stay like this for a while until her stomach grumbling pulls us out of our little bubble

"Sorry, I haven't eaten today and have hardly had anything lately, guess my stomach has missed your moms cooking, she came up a little bit ago telling me that tea was ready" she laughs and I sit up

"How long was I asleep for?" I look out the window noticing the lack of sunlight around the edge of the curtain

"About 5 hours" I gasp, not because I'm surprised because I feel refreshed but because it's the longest I've slept for a long time

"Shit, I'm sorry for sleeping on you so long. Let's go down and get something to eat then we can talk" I stand up, suddenly feeling hungry

We make our way downstairs, my parents look up and smile when they see me walk into the kitchen. I've hardly seen them since I got back, having hidden myself away from everyone apart from the girls. "hey Paige's hungry, are there any leftovers?"

"Yes, sit down, I'll heat some up" my mom jumps up and starts getting food she pulls out two plates but looks down at them then looks at me

"some for me to please mom" I smile and sit down at the table, my hand not leaving Paiges. I sit down next to dad, giving him a smile. We get our food and sit in silence for a bit, until my mother breaks the ice

"So how long are you here for Paige?" she asks nonchalantly but I tense not wanting to know the answer

"As long as Emily needs me. I brought my school work, most of its online anyway" she squeezed my hand in reassurance but something bugs me

"What about swimming? Isn't that your whole scholarship?" I ask

"Yea but swim season doesn't start for another 4 months and I'll work something out, I'm not leaving you again Em and I'm 18 now so what my parents say doesn't legally matter anymore" she looks into my eyes and I can tell she's serious. I smile and kiss her quickly

"I love you so much Paige McCullers"

"I love you too Emily Fields" I got to kiss her again but a cough from my dad stops me, Paige drops her head in the shy McCullers head dip that I find adorable and goes back to eating, complementing my mom on the food.

After we eat and talk to my parents for a bit we make my way back to my new room, not missing the questioning look she give my bedroom door. I sit down on the window seat sitting forward a bit leaving room for her to sit behind me, which she does. We sit in silence for a while, just soaking up the feeling of being together.

"This may seem like a very stupid question but how are you?"

"I'm better now you're here, really Paige I am. That place was torture and my head is really fucked up but I feel safe with you here, in your arms." I snuggle back into her

"Do you want to talk about what happened or anything?"

"Not right now. Maybe not ever" I whisper and she pulls me close

"I really think you should Em, if not with me then maybe a psychiatrist. Caleb mentioned Hanna ran into Dr Sullivan, I know you guys have history but maybe that's a good thing, she has prior knowledge so you won't have to go back over everything"

"I'll think about it." We both go quiet for a while until I remember something that she said when she first got here "what did you mean earlier when you said you couldn't get here until now?"

"Caleb rang me the moment you girls got arrested, well he rang when Hanna went to jail but I couldn't come back then but when he told me you girls got arrested I booked the first flight I could and came home but as soon as I arrived in Philly I got a message from A saying go home or you'll get hurt, attached was a picture of you in your jumpsuit unconscious. I tried to get here about 8 times over the past 3 weeks, but every time I tried I would get the same message with an updated picture. I tried so hard Emily, I wanted to help so badly. Caleb even got me bus and train tickets under different names, I used cash, I hired a car with my fake ID and I even was thinking about hitch hiking my way here but every time I got to Philly I would get turned around" I could hear the tears and frustration in her voice "the only thing that made me go back was the fact that I knew you were still alive" she kisses my shoulder and I feel her tears on my skin

"I'm alive" I whisper back picking up her hand and putting it over my heart so she can feel it beating. "Thank you, for trying anyway"

"Always. Caleb and I talked about it, we figured A didn't want me here because last time we both worked together we got too close. He knew that we would find him quicker, especially with Toby on the inside and Ezra's help. I tried to do what I can from there, my roommate was actually a bit worried because I had this big evidence board set up on my wall, but I couldn't do much without knowing what was happening when it was happening, Caleb only updated me when he could" she smiled at the roommate part

"How come you're back now? Weren't you worried you'd get told to go back?"

"I didn't really think about it, Caleb sounded too serious on the phone. I was freaking out, he didn't say anything other than he had booked me a ticket and he'd pick me up from the airport. I didn't know if you were dead, alive, safe or anything. Longest 6 hour flight of my life" she's crying again, and I spin around and hold her close.

"C'mon baby, let's go to bed" we strip down to our tanks and panties, both too tired to put pyjamas on. We lay down in our previous position, me lying on her chest and her arm wrapped around me, the other playing with my hair. "Goodnight Paige, I love you"

"Night Em, love you too" she's already drifting off, I kiss her quickly then fall into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

POV

I woke up the next morning with Emily still wrapped in my arms, she's still deep asleep and I really didn't want to wake her but my bladder wasn't caring. I slowly slide out of bed, pausing when Emily moves thinking she woke her up but relaxes when she snuggles up to Paige's pillow. After relieving herself, brushing her teeth and brushing her hair she stops by the room to check on Emily, seeing she was still asleep she goes downstairs, even though she's still on California time, she's wide awake. As she enters the kitchen she sees Wayne sitting at the breakfast bar reading the paper and drinking coffee.

"Morning Paige, you're up early" she looks at the clock noticing it just past 6

"We fell sleep early and there's too much stuff on my mind to sleep anyway" I go to the coffee pot, pouring me a cup and filling Wayne's back up. "I was thinking of going for a run around the block, I don't want to go too far"

"I was thinking about doing the same if you want some company" he suggests "Pam will be up soon anyway so she'll be here in case Emily wakes up while we're gone"

"Alight, I'll just go get changed" I run up the stairs, get changed and leave a note for Em so she doesn't freak out when she wakes. I kiss her forehead and walk back down to meet Wayne outside. We start off jogging in silence, just letting our bodies adjust to the morning weather.

"I wanted to be here when they found her but I couldn't leave base, it was the first time in 20 years of service that I hated being in the army" he says as the silence is broken "they understood the situation and how hard it was for my family but apparently because it was the middle of training I couldn't leave. I could've retired after my last tour but the offered a better pay for the trainer position and I've put my life on the line many times for the army and this country and the one time I needed to be here for my family they pull the political bullshit on me" we had started to run faster and harder the more he talked "I think it's time I retire, I need to be here. Plus Pam and I have always planned to travel after Emily left for college, I'm not really sure how that'll go now but I think it's time for Pam and I to leave this town once Em does and live a little ourselves" he slows back down to a jog as we go past the house, noticing the lights still off we continue on with our run

"I may not know exactly what you mean about the army but I know how much it sucks being told you can't go, as soon those circumstances I was telling you about, how I couldn't get here those were A telling me to turn around and last week when the girls were found Em rang and we talked, I told her I'd come back but she told me not to, it was safer for me to stay but when Caleb rang and told me to come home I thought something bad had happened again." We turned the corner, noticing more people were awake and I automatically started keeping an eye out for anything amiss, I also noticed Wayne doing the same

"How come this A person told you to go back?"

"I'm not too sure but Caleb and I figured it might have something to do with how close we got to them last time. We got sick of our girls always being in danger and started doing some investigating and we got close to figuring out who it was but we once again we would get told to stop or other things happened and we had to stop. It turned out we were on the right track, Wilden was the guy we were after but he ended up dead so we did stop and moved on with the next big bad that came along" we turned the corner heading back to their place noticing Pams bedroom curtains open

"Guess we should head back, we've ran the block 5 times already anyway" he said, turning into their driveway "I'm really glad you came back Paige, I know Emily told you not to come home but I think she really needed you" he patted me on the back as we walked up to the porch

"I'm glad I came back, she's everything to me and I hate seeing her like this and even though I was kidnapped by Nate I still can't imagine what she went through, I just want to be here for her, I know how strong she is and one day this will all just be a bad memory, just getting to that point is gonna be some work" we stretch out he gives me an understanding nod.

We walk in the door and I manage to look up in time before Emily is wrapped around me, tears running down her face

"I woke up alone and thought it was a dream, then I saw your note, then you took forever and I thought something bad had happened" she sobs into my shoulder

"Oh no baby I just went running with your dad" I point over to him

"Well I know that now" she laughs then punches me in the arm "wake me up next time, I don't like waking up without you" I rub my arm and nod. Giving her a kiss, grabbing her hand and walking into the kitchen to find Pam cooking breakfast

"Good morning Pam" I say walking over to the bench and pouring myself and Emily an orange juice, one thing I had noticed in the one day I have been here is that she doesn't eat or drink much and after my own kidnapping experience I learned having a bit of vitamins and protein won't make you feel worse and as drained as you already are.

"Morning Paige, how was you run? Did you sleep well?" she asks as she puts a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Wayne

"Both were great, Wayne sure knows how to push a girl" I laugh and sit down at the table, Emily joining my right away "What you wanna do today?" I ask her, entwining our hands on her lap

"I don't know, I think Hanna mentioned she wanted to redecorate her room, so maybe head over there? I'm pretty sure Caleb will be there too" I notice when she says Hanna's name she looks away, I take note to bring it up later

"Yea that sounds good, I'll give Caleb a text and see if Hanna doesn't mind me coming around" I say and thank Pam as she places a plate in front of me

Later after breakfast and my shower I'm sitting on Emily's bed while she's in the bathroom texting Caleb

P- _Has Hanna acted weird when mentioning any of the girls? Emily talked about Hanna earlier and she looked like she was going to throw up_

 ** _C-_** _Yea, you should see them when they hang out, they won't look at each other but you can tell they need to be together_

P- _Have you talked to Hanna about it? I'm thinking of asking Emily but not too sure how she'll react_

C- _I've tried but she just says stuff happened down there then either shuts down or changes subject_

P- _I'll ask, hopefully she doesn't push me away_

C- _Good luck. Are you coming around with Emily later?_

P- _Is Hanna up for visitors?_

C- _If you're that visitor then yes. I told her I picked you up from the airport and she said she can't wait to see you. If I didn't know better I'd say she has a crush on you lol_

P- _Ha, well lucky for you blondes aren't my type :P_

C- _And for Emily, we both know she's your only type_

P- _You know it, anyway I just heard the shower turn off, I'll see you this arvo_

I put my phone down and pull out my laptop, checking a few school emails and replying to a few friends. I pull up an email my dad sent me, jaw hanging open as I read it 3 times, I was just about to reply when Emily walked into the room

"Babe whats wrong?" she asks, sitting down next to me

"When you were asleep yesterday I rang dad, to let him I was here, I told him I was here, he yelled and went on about how we moved so I could be safe, how they only moved so they could stay close to me, they are trying as hard as they can to work away but every 2nd week they are both flying back to Phili for work anyway. I told him one last time how I didn't want to be at Stanford anyway, the only reason I was going to go there was because I got a scholarship and it's what everyone else wanted me to do. I mean I love swimming but it's not something I can see myself doing for another 4 years and I told him how I want to be an architect not a swimmer when I graduate. Anyways, I must've got through to him because he just sent me an email saying he's had a think and that he'll be happy as long as I am. Do you know what this means?" I smile as she shakes her head "I get to finally do what I want and right now that's staying here with you. So I'm going to drop out of Stanford, then apply for colleges when I'm ready, who knows, maybe defer for a year and we can go travelling or something" she smiles at me and I can't help but return it

"That's great Paige, to be honest I was a little worried about you leaving, I mean I just got you back and I know you said that you'd stay as long as I needed you but the thing is Paige is that I'm going to need you forever, I'm going to want you until I'm old and saggy watching our grandchildren run around and I just can't let you go again" she says it with so much emotion I cant help but lunge forward and kiss her hard

"I fucking love you Emily Fields and I want and need you forever too, you've got my heart and don't ever want it back. I've loved you since I was 14 and I'll love you at 94" we fall back on the bed still kissing. Her hands running over my body, I can feel it getting heated and know I need to put a stop to it, I slow down our kiss, pulling away softly "Em, as much as I want to continue this your parents are downstairs and I don't want to rush anything" she pulls away and nods slowly but I see the sadness on her face "hey, don't look away" I tilt her head, both smiling at the memory of those words "I want to take you on a date"

"A date? Paige we've been dating for a year" she laughs

"I know, but over the last year we've probably only been on 3 actual, gone out to a restaurant and watched a movie kind of dates, not including the time you brought a picnic to school. I want to take you out and spoil you, because you deserve it" she smiles and nods

"I'd love to go on a date with you Paige" she kisses me again and lays down next to me

"You know the best thing about leaving Stanford?" I ask and she shakes her head "it means I have to go back and get my stuff so maybe we can have that road trip after all"

"I think we will" she smiles


End file.
